The Saitama International Marathon takes the place of the Yokohama Women’s Marathon which had been held for the last six years - itself a successor event to the Tokyo Women’s Marathon. This year’s race will be on 15 November. The field comprises on average 360 women, including 20 foreign elite runners invited from eight other countries. The event record of 2:23:07 was set by Lydia Cheromei (KEN) in 2012.